I would focus first of all on seeing how your gear is set up and setting goals for improvements, but after you take a look at that, just get your rotation down. It's possible you're overlooking an ability you thought was useless back at level 40, but it's a game changer when you want to hit a boss for all you can. (I know I was using my priest wrong for a long time before I read up on some rotation tips).

Post by atomicwolf22

There are a few things that I see.

First most of your gear is tank gear. You don't want that as Ret.

Hit to 7.5>Exp to 7.5> Haste> Mastery = Crit

Thats the scale you should follow. You don't get gear that has Dodge or Parry on it thats for tanks. As far as dps improvements alot of it is reflective on your gear. The other half is how you play your toon.

Post by Stealthee

There are a few things that I see.

First most of your gear is tank gear. You don't want that as Ret.

Hit to 7.5>Exp to 7.5> Haste> Mastery = Crit

Thats the scale you should follow. You don't get gear that has Dodge or Parry on it thats for tanks. As far as dps improvements alot of it is reflective on your gear. The other half is how you play your toon.

Agreed, Also you could also learn some rotations ( Youtube Is your best bet )Max DpS = Build up holy damage using Judgement, Crusader Strike then cast Guardian of kings and winged vengeance and use all holy consuming spells. Max Dps At 1 time ( Cd's )

Post by jetbomb24

I think it's worth noting that the hit and expertise caps are different depending on what kind of content you're interested in doing. For heroic dungeons, it's 6% hit/expertise. Once you start doing Raid Finder or normal mode raids, you'll want the higher 7.5%. Until you're ready for the more difficult content, you'll have trouble reaching the higher caps because your gear simply won't have enough stats. Also, if you're replacing gear fairly quickly, it'll be costly to reforge and regem/enchant every time you get a new piece. For now, just try to get reasonably close to the caps so that misses won't eat away at your DPS too much.

Once you get your gear situated, have your rotation memorized, and are using your CDs; here's a few more advanced tips for when you want to start optimizing how you play.

Unlike other classes, the limiting resource for ret isn't mana, it's the global and individual ability cool downs. The more abilities you can cram into a shorter span of time, the more DPS you'll do. This is why haste is good for us (it actually lessens the global and ability CDs). The sooner you use an ability, the sooner it will be available to use again, The recommended rotation is all about optimizing this. Something you can do to minimize the amount of time you spend without doing a damaging attack is to repeatedly tap the next ability as it comes off of cooldown. This will help compensate for lag and reaction time.

Since you're using holy avenger, consider that both avenging wrath and holy avenger last for 20 seconds. Guardian of Ancient Kings lasts for 30 seconds. Read what GoAK does for a ret pally. It's possible to get more DPS out of these abilities then from using all 3 at the exact same time. Also, it's typically best to each cool down as frequently as possible, but sometimes there are times where you can't attack something or mechanics to a fight that will increase your DPS. Learn what these are and when they happen and make a judgement call on what you think will get you more overall damage.

Good luck and happy pwning :)

Post by TKitch

The biggest thing is getting used to your rotation.

Go grab CLCRet. It's a really convenient add on for ret pallies, and will help you optimize your rotation.

I believe this is the rotation I have set (since I'm not at my computer I'm guessing.)

And for GOAK: Use that first. Wait for the Strength Buff to stack to 20. THEN blow wings and melt whatever's in front of you. :-)

I am fairly certain I don't have some of those abilities, I'm a little confused! LOL!

Post by TayliaEdann

There are a few things that I see.

First most of your gear is tank gear. You don't want that as Ret.

Hit to 7.5>Exp to 7.5> Haste> Mastery = Crit

Thats the scale you should follow. You don't get gear that has Dodge or Parry on it thats for tanks. As far as dps improvements alot of it is reflective on your gear. The other half is how you play your toon.

Post by TKitch

Inquisition you haveDivine Purpose is a Tier 5 Talent option.Templar's Verdict you haveLight's Hammer is a Tier 6 Talent optionExecution Sentence is a Tier 6 Talent optionHammer of Wrath you haveExorcism you haveCrusader Strike you haveJudgement you haveSacred Shield is a Tier 4 Talent Option

(FYI: I updated the list, I forgot judgement originally.)

If you don't know what some of these abilities are, I'm honestly not surprised your DPS is lacking, you're not using all the spells at your command.

Post by Violion

Post by TayliaEdann

Inquisition you haveDivine Purpose is a Tier 5 Talent option.Templar's Verdict you haveLight's Hammer is a Tier 6 Talent optionExecution Sentence is a Tier 6 Talent optionHammer of Wrath you haveExorcism you haveCrusader Strike you haveJudgement you haveSacred Shield is a Tier 4 Talent Option

(FYI: I updated the list, I forgot judgement originally.)

If you don't know what some of these abilities are, I'm honestly not surprised your DPS is lacking, you're not using all the spells at your command.

Okay, so can I get these talents?

Post by Nooska

Press for your spellbook, this will let you find all your spells.Press for your talent and glyph selection, you can drag active talents straight down from the talent UI after having learned them.

Post by jetbomb24

Okay, so can I get these talents?

You can pick some of these, yes. You obviously can't have 2 tier 6 talents, or something like that. Pick what you like and what you think works best for you, then use 'em as much as you can. Some are better in certain situations then others.

For example, you have Eternal Flame as a talent instead of . Switching will cost you the extra healing to Word of Glory but will give you a constantly refreshing absorption shield. If you use a focus macro and set the tank as your focus target, you can help smooth out incoming damage on the tank with an ability that helps fill out blank spots in your rotation and doesn't use holy power.#showtooltip/cast Sacred Shield

gives you a random chance of getting an extra 3 holy power ability when you use holy power. It will do more damage in short pulls and helps fill out downtime in your over all rotation. You currently have Holy Avenger, which can be used along with Avenging Wrath and Guardian for huge burst damage. This would be useful in dungeons to blow up bosses. The 3rd option is Sanctified Wrath, which gives you Avenging wrath and hammer of wrath more often. Sanctified Wrath>Holy Avenger>Divine Purpose for damage, but that's for longer fights like raid bosses. Feel free to go with whichever you're more comfortable with.

For Tier 6, Light's Hammer is better for 2 or more mobs, is the best for 1 monster, Holy Prism is kinda half way between them (It helps fill out your rotation by giving you an extra moderate damage attack, but I would generally skip it). Go with what you want.

Also, if you're not using all of the abilities that you do have, then that's the problem with your DPS. If it does damage, you should be using it sometimes. Remember to always keep up and refresh it with 3 HP when there's 4 seconds or less left. If you're AoEing, switch Crusader Strike and Templar's Verdict for Hammer of the Righteous and Divine Storm. Switch to if there's 6 or more mobs.

TLDR:The rotation posted by tkitch is just where everything ranks in terms of overall DPS output. Every time you go to attack, you just pick the highest attack on the list that's available. ClcRet will put up a little box on your screen that shows what the next one you should use is. Learn what your abilities do, because there'll be situations where you might want to do something else.

Post by MiseryFM

Rotation; INQ3 > TVDP > TV5 > HoW > Exo > CS > J > TV3-4.Make sure you're using Divine Purpose, it is the best talent for Tier 5 until you get Tier 14 4-Piece and then you swap to Sanctified Wrath.Really, the only thing I can say to increase your DPS is get a new weapon and new trinkets, they're the single-handedly most important thing to a Retribution Paladin, and without good trinkets or a weapon you're going to be having a bad time trying to pull some good DPS. When you get new gear, make sure it's gemmed and enchanted to the highest standard, and you won't have any problems.

As for you using Eternal Flame, don't. Swap to Selfless Healer, especially in raids whenever Ret has a spare GCD (which you do from time to time), you're going to want to use that free FoL on yourself to reduce the amount of healing your healer has to do. It is also very helpful if you ever want to solo places like Onyxia's Lair, or Tempest Keep.

Post by Nooska

Holy Avenger is better than DP for any fight where you want on demand damage.

Post by jetbomb24

@tayliaI just took a look again at your character and it appears you've done some reforging, which is a good start. One thing I would point out is that it seems you haven't reforged into expertise. If you are running dungeons, raids, and to some extent, scenarios and dailies, this is not good. Expertise does basically the same thing as hit and is equally important. Hit reduces misses, and expertise reduces the chance to be dodged/parried. Also, some of our attacks are considered spells and hit combines with expertise to reach the higher amount of spell hit (different from melee hit) that casters need. You should try to get near the amount of hit/expertise I posted previously so that monsters can't dodge you and your attacks won't miss. If you're doing stuff where you have a tank, the chance of being parried is unimportant, since if you stand behind monsters, you can't be parried.

Also, I would urge you to try and avoid reforging for crit since your other stats will offer you more DPS in the long run. Haste will let you get off more attacks if you're up to the challenge of having a shorter cooldown as you get more gear.. Mastery makes several of your more powerful attacks hit harder.

PS: your weapon is appropriate for what you're doing. The only upgrade before LFR is a rare drop from heroic dungeons and weapons that have a better balance of stats for you, like hit or expertise and mastery. Just reforge that crit to expertise for now. If you've got some Justice points, check out operation shield wall for a good starter trinket and macro that in with execution sentence.

Post by Lordplatypus

you should get 3 holy power in less than 4.5 seconds, the exact number being based on your haste due to having 3 holy power builders, Excorcism, Judgement, and Crusader Strike. Don't waste power to get inq before having 3, it'll slow you down in the long run.

Post by Nooska

Don't waste power to get inq before having 3, it'll slow you down in the long run.

This is strictly not true, you will need the same amount of holy power to keep up Inq during the course of a fight whether you wait for 3 HoPo, use it the first time at 1 HoPo or wait till you have 5 HoPo.The difference is how many ability usages is covered by Inq, and its obvious that it will cover more abilities if used as early as possible.

Post by caitlolz

Even so..with all of this, sustained damage can still be difficult. In a raid, fully buffed (both Kings and Might), Inquisition up prior to pulling the boss, I pop Avenging Warth, GoAK, and Execution sentence. Since Avenging Wrath will pop Hammer of Wrath I hit 4 HP and usually burst for about 100k if not a little more. Unfortunately, that steadily declines which has been my biggest complaint lately.

I never have a problem with Dps on trash ever. Always raid or heroic bosses. I just blow through my cds and follow the rotation as usual and watch it decline.

Post by Nooska

You don't have a problem with dps on trash because there is usually more than one trash mob or nobody is popping any cd's (even shortterms).

In regards to "bursting to 100k and steadily declining" thats not ret specific. Thats been the everyday experience of being a BM as ell, having 2 major 5 minute CDs.

As to what you are saying aout your own CD usage, you are not douing it optimally. You want to pop GoAK first and pop the rest when the stacks have maxed.

Post Reply

You are not logged in. Please log in to post a reply or register if you don't already have an account.